The most influential word available in your persuasive copywriting toolbox other than 'free' ....wait for it ...is 'because'.

Queue Jumping

Ellen Langer, the distinguished social psychologist, conducted a fascinating experiment in a queue for the photocopier. Addressing her fellow queuers in the library, she said: "Excuse me, I have five pages. May I use the photocopier?" Surprisingly 60 per cent of those asked agreed and let her push to the front. Then, with other groups, she tried a different tack: "Excuse me, I have five pages. May I use the photocopier because I'm in a rush." You won't be surprised to learn that this time 94 per cent let her by. After all, "I'm in a rush" is a decent reason for seeking a favour.

But now get this. Langer also tried asking: "Excuse me, I have five pages. May I use the photocopier because I have to make some copies." This time 93 per cent complied. In other words, it wasn't the quality of the reason she gave that led people to agree to her request, but the mere fact that she provided a reason at all.

The Power of Because

This study demonstrates the influential power of the word because. Obviously the power of this word has it's limits, please give me a $1,000,000 because I want the money. Just in case that worked please email me for my bank details. The more friction/resistance there is in the question the better your because needs to be. However there's some great testing potential here, how could because increase your conversion?

Testing 'Because' on Your Website

• Book now because availability is limited.
• Subscribe to our newsletter because 104,543 subscribers can't be wrong.
• Download our white paper because ...

So go test some because copy on your website, because I said so.